Caenorhabditis elegans

About Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode, about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. In 1963, Sydney Brenner proposed research into C. elegans primarily in the area of neuronal development. In 1974, he began research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans, which has since been extensively used as a model organism. C. elegans was the first multicellular organism to have its whole genome sequenced, and as of 2012, the only organism to have its connectome (neuronal "wiring diagram") completed.